Rating: 
Summary: For any student of Spanish
Review: If you are studying Spanish in High School, University or on your own and you are not a speaker of any romance language than I tell you you need this book as much as your dictionary. Now don't worry eventually with the help of this book you will no longer depend on it all the time. It gives you all the forms of many common used verbs of the spanish language. As well there is an explanation of each of the tenses' uses in the opening of the book and in the back and throughout the book you will find idioms, Frases hechas, exercises, and even a section on specific words (like words dealing with the airport, the bathroom, clothes, etc.). Now you should make it a point to become so familiar with the verbs that you never have to use this book again!
Rating:
Summary: It helped me tremendously.
Review: My professor recommended the use of this book for our Spanish class about a year ago, and the help it provided was invaluable.Many people (my professor included) have warned about a student being overly dependent on this book. And indeed that is a huge probability. In my case, I was very dependent on the book. But one of the things that helped make me a little less dependent was to write on a blank sheet of paper about 10 to 15 -AR, -ER, and -IR verbs. Then I would conjugate them (the most common being HABLAR, IR, COMER, LEER, etc.) in at least four or five different conjugations (or however many our class had to know at a given point). Sometimes I would write out the conjugations over and over and over again just to make sure I had them memorized. This was especially good exam preparation. All 501 verbs in the book are conjugated in 15 different ways. In the back of the book there is an "Index of English-Spanish Verbs", a pronunciation guide, and an index containing over 1,000 additional verbs not included in the first 501 which point to the page number of the conjugated verb which provides the "model" for others like it. For instance, if you can't find the conjugated verb, EVITAR (to avoid), in the book, then you can simply turn to this section in the back. When you see the word EVITAR, it will tell you to look up the conjugation of GRITAR (to shout). Then you simply conjugate EVITAR using the same rules and patterns as GRITAR: (presente de indicativo) evito
evitas
evita
evitamos
evitáis
evitan Furthermore, there are an additional 12 helpful sections in the back of the book to further assist a student in learning verb uses. The semester in which I bought this book marked the first time I ever made an "A" in any Spanish class. (Glory to God!) Even though I'm now done with all of my undergraduate Spanish courses, I still intend to hold onto this book to help further my Spanish vocabulary and speaking skills. I can't recommend this enough!
Rating: 
Summary: OK, but not the best book of its kind.
Review: Let's face it, writing a book that conjugates 501 verbs is no big challenge. The question is what else you provide in addition to the lists of verbs. And the answer with this book is not a heck of a lot. In contrast, "The Big Red Book of Spanish Verbs: 555 Fully Conjugated Verbs" lists the same verbs, but gives detailed examples of verb usage. The top 50 verbs get a full page of usage in addition to the conjugation, so that you can see all the different shades of meaning of the verb. In addition, a lengthy explanation of conjugations and irregularities is presented at the beginning. Finally, a special index at the back of the Big Red book maps 2300 Spanish verbs to the 555 that are conjugated in its pages--a terrific tool. The 501 Spanish verbs book is kind of like a word list--it's just pure reference. The Big Red Book of Spanish Verbs provides a lot more. And by having this greater information, retention of meanings and peculiarities is, for me, greatly enhanced. Get the Big Red Book instead of this one.
Rating:
Summary: Essential for self-teaching Spanish
Review: The other reviews say it all...I just wanted to add support.
Rating:
Summary: A Fantastic Reference Tool, *BUT*
Review: This is a great book for students or anyone else studying/brushing up on Spanish. There's lots of common (and not-so-common) verbs completely conjugated in a very easy-to-use format. Just whip out the book and in two or three seconds you've found your word! Why the *BUT*? Well, using this book could make you overly reliant on it. My suggestion is, if you are a student, to not take it to class with you and try to not use it so much when you are doing your homework. Having all the conjugations to so many verbs right there in a book can make it easy to forget what you've learned! However, as a reference tool, this can't be beat by a long shot.
Rating:
Summary: 1,501 Verbs Conjugated and so much more!
Review: This book actually contains the conjugations of not 501 but 1,501 Spanish verbs. In the back there is a list of over 1,000 other verbs which are conjugated exactly like the model verbs. But in reality this book is so much more. It is a shame that this book is considered by most to be only a very reference manual. To start, in the front there is the most concise, clear explanation of the 7 simple tenses that I have ever seen. That is acompanied by how to for the present and pased participle and how to form the 7 compound tenses. This goes way beyond the skatered or incomplete explanations that are found in most begining and intermediate spanish text books. Then, after the 501 model verbs are conjugated, the real fun begins. The apendix contains many useful sections including a section concerning verbs used in idiomatic expressions. The understanding of these verbs is absolutely vital to communication in spanish but they are rarely found all in once place. Next you have an explanation of verbs used with prepositions. If any one has ever been confused on when to add a en or de after a verb, this should clear things up. After that you have sections such as verbs used to describe the weather, verbs used in common tourist situations etc.. This back section is the real great part about this book. As Kendris says in the introduction "If you refer to these back pages each time you look up a verb tense to form a particular verb, you will increase your knowldege of spanish vocabulary and spanish idioms by leaps and bounds." He couldn't be more right. As many have said, this is an indispendable book. But it is indispensable for many many reasons beyond the 501 model verbs that are conjugated. Happy learning!
Rating: 
Summary: Know your verbs, eat your verduras...
Review: For english speakers who have never studied a romance language, verb conjugation almost seems like more trouble than it's worth. Irregular verbs abound and just when you think you know the patterns, some new irregularity comes up and smacks you right in the language faculty. Unfortunately, verb conjugation is a necessary and monotonous part of learning Spanish. Without the ability to conjugate at will and without much thinking, fluency remains a Quixotic dream. "501 Spanish Verbs" will get you up and running on some of the essential verbs of the Spanish language. When you're starting there's no way you're going to remember or not confuse the present subjunctive spelling with the spelling of the conditional or preterite. It's going to happen, and having this book on hand for moments like that will deaden the "what's the point of this!?!?" feeling. Eventually it comes together, and at some point this book will outlive its usefulness. It's important to remember that this is not meant to be a comprehesive guide to Spanish verbs. That's why it's called "501 Spanish verbs" when there's obviously thousands more. 501 is a pretty good number of verbs to have on hand at the beginning of learning Spanish. It will get a reader through most children's books or basic reading. This book is to be mastered and built upon, not to be seen or used as a final resting place for learning about Spanish verbs. It should be used with the idea that someday it will be abandoned. If a learner of Spanish gets to that point then the book has done its job.
Rating:
Summary: Not all there
Review: I am learning Spanish and my biggest gripe is on 3 or 4 occassions I have gone to this book to see what a verb meant only to find it was not listed...not the derivative and not the infinitive (and keep in mind these were verbs I found in introductory learning Spanish books).
Rating:
Summary: Essential
Review: I've been studying Spanish on my own and with a private tutor now for about 10 months and I have found that I am reaching for this book time and time again.
I have purchased probably 12 different workbooks, reference books, or learning guides and I find that most are just brainless heaps of basura. It's obvious that no real effort was put into making them organized and useful. This book is an exception. It makes it real easy when you're trying to find some of the those odd conjugations of irregular verbs. Yes, it is limited to 501 verbs, but it's not often that I don't find the word I'm looking for. If you read all the examples and extra materials that are given at the beginning and end of the book, you'll have a decent understanding of how to use the various tenses correctly. The rest is up to you.
Rating:
Summary: Showing its age...
Review: Kudos to 501 for being the bible on Spanish verbs for so long, but it is in dire need of an overhaul. Obviously, what's happened is the publisher feels it can just coast on this books notoriety and rake in the dough. I assume profits are good as the book is rather poorly printed on cheap paper. Imagine a book typed with an old 1940s manual typewriter and you'd be close. Another weakness is that the book does not have example sentences, so there is no way to see the listed verbs in context. This combines with rather short definitions to cause a problem. An example: I looked up the verb 'colegir' and it says 'to gather.' Every other dictionary I own says that the primary definition is 'to infer.' Worse, the facing page has 'coger' which it says means 'to sieze, grab', etc. No mention that in much of the Spanish speaking world this is actually an extremely vulgar word for 'to fornicate.' At the end of 501 there are a few verbs listed with idiomatic expressions but it looks like kind of an afterthought, much like the included phrasebook (why would you lug this tome around when you can just buy a pocket-sized phrasebook for a few dollars?) I would give this book a miss and instead buy The Big Red Book of Spanish Verbs, which is essentially a heavily updated version of 501. It gives numerous sample sentences for each verb, provides you with a full extra page of idioms etc. on the 'top 50' verbs, is a much higher quality printing, includes many more verbs, better explanations and definitions, etc.
| 
